Career and Education Opportunities for Compensation / Benefits Specialists in Dallas, Texas

There are many career and education opportunities for compensation / benefits specialists in the Dallas, Texas area. There are currently 9,700 jobs for compensation / benefits specialists in Texas and this is projected to grow by 26% to about 12,230 jobs by 2016. This is better than the national trend for compensation / benefits specialists, which sees this job pool growing by about 23.6% over the next eight years. Compensation / benefits specialists generally conduct programs of compensation and benefits and job analysis for employer.

The income of a compensation / benefits specialist is about $23 per hour or $49,750 per year on average in Texas. In the U.S. as a whole, their income is about $25 hourly or $53,860 yearly on average. Compared with people working in the overall category of Human Resources, people working as compensation / benefits specialists in Texas earn less. They earn less than people working in the overall category of Human Resources nationally. Compensation / benefits specialists work in a variety of jobs, including: employee benefits specialist, occupational analyst, and employment benefits or pensions retirement plan specialist.

The Dallas area is home to eighty-three schools of higher education, including four within twenty-five miles of Dallas where you can get a degree as a compensation / benefits specialist. The most common level of education for compensation / benefits specialists is a Bachelor's degree. It will take about four years to learn to be a compensation / benefits specialist if you already have a high school diploma.

CAREER DESCRIPTION: Compensation / Benefits Specialist

In general, compensation / benefits specialists conduct programs of compensation and benefits and job analysis for employer. They also may specialize in specific areas.

Every day, compensation / benefits specialists are expected to be able to listen to and understand others in meetings. They need to articulate ideas and problems. It is also important that they think through problems and come up with general rules.

It is important for compensation / benefits specialists to evaluate job positions, determining classification, exempt or non-exempt status, and salary. They are often called upon to help in preparing and maintaining personnel records and handbooks. They also speak at conferences and events to promote apprenticeships and related training programs. They are sometimes expected to observe and survey employees and conduct focus group meetings to collect job, organizational, and occupational data. Somewhat less frequently, compensation / benefits specialists are also expected to negotiate collective agreements on behalf of employers or staff, and mediate labor disputes and grievances.

They also have to be able to ready reports, such as organization and flow charts, and career path reports, to summarize job analysis and evaluation and compensation analysis data And finally, they sometimes have to research job and worker requirements, structural and functional relationships among jobs and occupations, and occupational trends.

Like many other jobs, compensation / benefits specialists must have exceptional integrity and be able to absorb the factors involved and a problem and provide a well thought out solution.

University of North Texas, Chestnut Ave., Denton, TX 76203-1277. University of North Texas is a large university located in Denton, Texas. It is a public school with primarily 4-year or above programs. It has 34,795 students and an admission rate of 64%. University of North Texas has 2 areas of study related to Compensation / Benefits Specialist. They are:

DeVry University-Texas, 4800 Regent Blvd, Irving, TX 75063-2439. DeVry University-Texas is a small university located in Irving, Texas. It is a private for-profit school with primarily 4-year or above programs. It has 3,647 students and an admission rate of 89%. DeVry University-Texas has a master's degree program in Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration which graduated six students in 2008.

University of Dallas - Irving, TX

University of Dallas, 1845 E Northgate Drive, Irving, TX 75062-4736. University of Dallas is a small university located in Irving, Texas. It is a private not-for-profit school with primarily 4-year or above programs. It has 2,977 students and an admission rate of 91%. University of Dallas has a master's degree program in Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration which graduated two students in 2008.

Southern Methodist University - Dallas, TX

Southern Methodist University, 6425 Boaz St, Dallas, TX 75275-0221. Southern Methodist University is a large university located in Dallas, Texas. It is a private not-for-profit school with primarily 4-year or above programs. It has 10,965 students and an admission rate of 50%. Southern Methodist University has a postbaccalaureate certificate and a master's degree program in Labor and Industrial Relations which graduated ten and thirty-two students respectively in 2008.

Certified Retirement Specialist:
If you are a professional with an interest in issues and opportunities in the 403(b) marketplace, advance your career by obtaining the Certified Retirement Specialist (CRS) designation.

Certified Compensation Professional:
Recognized as the world's standard since 1976, the Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) designation is known throughout the global rewards community as a mark of expertise and excellence in all areas of compensation.

LOCATION INFORMATION: Dallas, Texas

Dallas, Texas photo by File Upload Bot

Dallas is situated in Dallas County, Texas. It has a population of over 1,279,910, which has grown by 7.7% over the last ten years. The cost of living index in Dallas, 91, is below the national average. New single-family homes in Dallas cost $295,700 on average, which is far greater than the state average. In 2008, 1,198 new homes were constructed in Dallas, down from 2,090 the previous year.

The three big industries for women in Dallas are health care, educational services, and accommodation and food services. For men, it is construction, administrative and support and waste management services, and accommodation and food services. The average commute to work is about 27 minutes. More than 27.7% of Dallas residents have a bachelor's degree, which is higher than the state average. The percentage of residents with a graduate degree, 9.6%, is higher than the state average.

The unemployment rate in Dallas is 8.7%, which is greater than Texas's average of 8.1%.

The percentage of Dallas residents that are affiliated with a religious congregation, 55.1%, is more than the national average but less than the state average. El Buen Samaritano Methodist Church, Penuel Seventh Day Adventist Church and Peoples Baptist Church are all churches located in Dallas. The largest religious groups are the Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Church.

Dallas is home to the Camp Wisdom and the North Bishop Avenue Commercial Historic District as well as Trinity River Greenbelt Park and Buckner Park. Shopping centers in the area include Wynnewood Village Shopping Center, Valley View Center Shopping Center and Galleria Shopping Center at Dallas. Visitors to Dallas can choose from Benjamin West Dallas LLC, Bucks Bar and Candlewood Suites Hotel for temporary stays in the area.